A permanent governance council is being established by Caricom leaders to address the "implementation deficit" and other problems hampering the movement and efficiency of the 37 regional grouping, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and St Lucia Prime Minister Denzil Douglas confirmed yesterday.
Discussions on the proposed council began on Monday and continued yesterday morning. The agenda yesterday also included discussions on tourism and national security. Persad-Bissessar chaired that session last evening
Leaders were also discussing with Persad Bissessar, her proposals for redirecting the Petroleum Fund to cater for the needs of women, children and the environment. As well, Persad-Bissessar said she was meeting yesterday with Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding to discuss the Air Jamaica/Caribbean Airlines situation. She said she was optimistic of a positive outcome on this. On the proposed governance council for Caricom, Persad- Bissessar said specific recommendations were made for review and rationalisation of Caricom's multiplicity of committees, since these accumulated over time. The need for moves to kick-start the 37- year-old regional institution onto a path of efficiency and speedier implementation has been a key talking point among leaders, including Persad-Bissessar.
From Persad-Bissessar's arrival on Sunday, she told T&T reporters of her concerns that Caricom had lapsed into the status of "committee after committee" and needed to polish up on its objective of meeting the needs of the Caribbean peoples and improving their way of life. Saying she was not satisfied with the situation, Persad-Bissessar called for new governance arrangements for the regional body. Acknowledgement of Caricom's ailing state was also delivered by incoming Caricom chairman Jamaican PM Bruce Golding at Sunday's opening ceremony. Noting regional critics of Caricom, Golding called for the summit to be a turning point for Caricom. Concern may also be fuelled by the lacklustre summit attendance by leaders. Of the 14 leaders, six were absent as the meeting began on Sunday and two more left yesterday, Caricom officials said.
After discussions on the proposed governance council, Douglas said yesterday: "If the regional movement is really to meet the people's needs, it has to have a governance structure which will ensure possibly a permanent council to continue on a daily basis to look after the interests of the community. "There has been before, a council of ministers, but now we're talking about a permanent council to be structured slightly differently," he added. He said the modalities would be worked out over the next three months. Douglas said it was the leaders' idea. Jamaica, however, is reported to be bringing a new proposal on the issue to the table. Douglas, though, said: "Not necessarily...we're saying there needs to be a permanent body to look after the interests and intricacies of matters we make decisions on, to have them implemented–the question of implementation seems to be a problem."
"We believe all heads are on board that the implementation is not working and we want to make it work, whatever decision is taken will be binding," he said. Persad-Bissessar said recommendations also were made on implementation, since resolutions were often passed and implementation on this lagged. She also said the rationalisation and review would also take into account the role and function of the Caricom Secretariat. She said much of the recommendations came before this week. St Vincent PM Ralph Gonzales, who has complained that a lack ofleadership is stifling Caricom, is among summit absentees, reportedly ill. His country is represented by a delegation headed by Ellsworth John, who said yesterday that Gonzales was feeling "better." A senior member of the Caricom headquarters team told the T&T Guardian it was "interesting" that some who had aired grouses about lack of Caricom leadership had not seen it fit to attend the summit where Caricom's governance and affiliated issues were expected to be on the agenda.
Yesterday, Douglas said he was sure whatever came out of the council proposal would be acceptable to Gonzales.